2013-07-09, 09:16 | Link #32501 |
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If I've to be honest I also didn't like ShKanon because it should have been an obvious solution for the poeple on Rokkenjima too... and one that requires an insane amount of accomplices and early preparations. A solution that should have been considered by Toya's readers and something over which the police would have investigated.
It also felt like cheating because no one mentioned/noticed that Shannon and Kanon's faces, despite them not being related, resemble each other SO VERY MUCH they could as well be the same person... But yes, ShKanon is the intended solution. It's interesting how Ep 7 manga version dealt with Yasu becoming Beatrice and leaving Shannon behind. Previously Shannon was always seen as older and dressed as a maid even when Yasu is in common clothes. However when Yasu expresses his wish to become a witch Shannon is dressed as her (the same happens in a flashback in the same chapter about Yasu talking of how she wanted to become like her) (chap 25). And, of course, she'll later look younger (chap 26). Also interesting is how in chap 22, when all the servants are standing in line with Genji saying he'd found some keys, sometimes Shannon is in the line with the others, just after Yasu, sometimes she's not (although it could look like she was just hidden from the view as she's close to Yasu bits of her should at least be visible...). |
2013-07-09, 13:32 | Link #32502 |
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Frankly my only problem with Shkanon is that he went all David Cage and hurt his own narrative in order to protect his twist as long as possible. If he just let Shkanon exist on its own merits without working so hard to conceal it once it was guessed, it'd of been fine to me.
And considering my personal canon for Umineko, his proper response should've been "Yea, Shkanon. BUT YASU'S BODY DIDN'T COMMIT MURDER OOOOOO~~"
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2013-07-09, 18:16 | Link #32503 |
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About Kyrie's 18 years thing, I've always thought:
1. Ryukushi made a mistake, and just meant '12' 2. Kyrie was involved with Rudolf at least 6 years before he married Asumu 3. EP3 and EP6 are gameboards where he confessed to her 4. Kyrie is speaking with much more Meta than she probably should, in the sense that everything ends for her in 1986 5. Battler's return to the family in 1986 is some kind of symbolic, "my place over even Asumu's memory in this household is complete" thing for her I tend to roll with door #2, since Asumu wasn't even her first rival for Rudolf's attention in the first place, just the first one she couldn't shoo off easily. Regarding Shkanon's face, I of course agree with the majority ; and it's the fact that it could have been resolved with even just a few throwaway lines that makes it so grating. Off the top of my head: 1. Shannon and Kanon do, in fact, claim to be blood related 2. Kanon started working just after the 1985 conference, so most of the relatives had never seen him before 3. Kanon works almost entirely overnight shifts or taking care of the obscenely large garden, so he's barely around people to be remembered much in the first place 4. Maybe Shannon's a girly girl who's known for wearing a lot of makeup It reminds me of when I was reading And Then There Were None, and Spoiler for spoilers for And Then There Were None:
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2013-07-09, 18:58 | Link #32504 |
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Or, for a number 5:
People's ability to recognize faces is vastly overrated, and Shannon's headgear, hairstyle, servant attire, height and mannerisms go a long way towards distinguishing her from the creepy quiet boy in the garden. Hey, it works for Clark Kent, right? |
2013-07-09, 22:47 | Link #32505 | |
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2013-07-10, 02:18 | Link #32506 | |
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Regarding the often big discussion on how well or not Ryukishi wrote, I reread Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation today, where in his first chapter he talks a lot about the quality of the real, reality and hyperreal in (post)modern society...and it really made me question whether Ryukishi had read it, considering that some aspects can almost be directly copy-pasted into an Umineko scenario.
I'm planning to do my first video-critique on this topic, but I wanted to quote one part here, which really jumped out to me the most: Quote:
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2013-07-10, 16:50 | Link #32507 | ||||
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And you should add also a 5 which is "Jessica is rarely on the island and she barely knows Shannon so when she'll see Kanon and fall in love with him she totally won't connect him to her childhood friend Shannon with whom she had friendly chats each time she can and that she's trying to hook up with her cousin, George." Because really, Jessica looks really dumb for not noticing the boy she's crushing on is the friend she's trying to pair up with her cousin. Quote:
Spoiler for spoilers for And Then There Were None:
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2013-07-10, 23:17 | Link #32508 | |
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One idea regarding Umineko that has always intrigued me was the theory first proposed by Kylon99 in this post here regarding the loss of self-identity following traumatic brain injuries. According to this theory, a lot of Yasu/Beatrice's actions can be considered under a completely new (and certainly a far less sinister) light, in which Yasu's lack of self-identity as a single sentient being (i.e. Lion) caused her to only be able to express herself via the three personas that eventually emerged. As a result, there is no single "Yasu" persona behind the curtains pulling the strings for Shkanontrice, but rather a series of subconscious action that had to be performed by Yasu's physical body in order to sustain the continued existences of these personas. In essence, these existences are governed by an entirely separate set of rules (i.e. the same ones governing "magic") that Yasu had no choice but to follow in order to keep them alive, such as making sure to prevent or avoid any situations that demanded the simultaneous presence of two or more of her personas. The reason for Shannon's freakout during her first meeting with Will can be explained by the possibility that Yasu's mind is just unable to process Will's seemingly innocuous request to see Shkanon simultaneously. For Yasu, the loss of Shannon, Kanon, or Beatrice is equivalent to the loss of a significant part of "self" since she honestly has no other outlet to express herself except for these three. Another possibility to consider under this theory is that the various episodes written by Yasu may have been a way for her to carry out the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that Kylon99 also referred to in his discussion of the "chessboard" analogy. According to this analogy, the Yasu's personas can be considered as various "pieces" on the board in significant conflict with each other and that Yasu's stories can be considered as an expression of her struggle to embrace the "gameboard" itself rather than a particular "piece" of the gameboard. Only when she is able to identify with the "gameboard" will she finally be able to accept all of her personas as part of her unified "self", recovering the self-identity that had been previously lost due to trauma. Finally, perhaps one of the biggest consequences of this theory is that it paints Beatrice's ultimate riddle, "Who am I?" (introduced at the end of EP4), in a completely new light. Rather than Beatrice knowing the answer to that riddle and testing Battler to solve it, Beatrice herself may have been just as tortured by this riddle as Battler had been and that the riddle may not have been intended as a "challenge" to Battler but rather as a desperate plea begging him to recover her lost self-identity. Anyway, I've always considered this theory very intriguing even though it doesn't necessarily preclude other Shkanontrice theories. Nonetheless, it's been giving me so much more to think about as I reread the series that it's almost like reading it for the first time again. |
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2013-07-11, 09:40 | Link #32509 | |
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I think the point haguruma is referencing is this: If someone not "in on it" sees a bunch of murder game stuff happening, what are they going to think? Will they correctly guess it's all a game, or will they take the more reasonable step of thinking it's real? If they do think it's real, what's the most reasonable reaction? If I think someone is murdering everybody, I will act to defend myself and my family. This is a way to have something premeditated that isn't a crime - the murder game - and have a crime occur, yet not have a single person actually be culpable for a criminal mental state. In fact, it's just about the only way. Essentially Yasu creates a murder mystery for Battler, but someone is not aware that she's done so... possibly Battler himself, possibly just one of the adults not chosen to be an "accomplice" or "victim." If you look at the message bottles, you can kind of see what scenarios function well: Probably the single smoothest scenario is when all seven adults are "in on it," if we pretend the murders are fake in Turn. The worst case is when the servants are the only "victims" of the First Twilight, in Banquet. This suggests to me that Yasu didn't account for one of the adults probably, as I don't think Battler would kill somebody for real even in self-defense bar some particularly strange scenario. If one of the adults, however, were to think this was all real and get paranoid, they could kill people out of a wholly reasonable fear that the murders are actually happening and they need to kill the murderer and any accomplices to save themselves and anyone who is left. The only way the adults would think this is if they were left out as accomplices. In short, Yasu fucked up by not getting everybody but Battler in on things. Or she did, and Battler is the one who screwed up somehow... but he'd have to have screwed up really badly.
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2013-07-11, 15:19 | Link #32510 |
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Going off that idea. What if Yasu got everyone involved except for the cousins and perhaps told the adults that whichever one of the cousins solved the mystery would become the next head. Then what if George figured out that all the adults and servants were involved(And at the time Shannon's death was already faked but he thought it was real) and he decided to get revenge and kill them all.
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2013-07-12, 21:18 | Link #32511 | |
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Yes, in EP 6 meta Erika said she killed people on purpose but piece Erika might have done that in fear one of them was a culprit and was hiding among the others. After all piece Erika has no reason to kill other than to make sure they're really dead... Alternatively, the game was organized but something went wrong and someone died (maybe Krauss killed himself in attempt to save his family's honor as he feared his actions could be discovered and either Natsuhi hid his suicide letter or it ended up being misplaced). People believed he'd been killed taking advantage of the game and go paranoid. And let's not forget people was hiding Kinzo's death. What if someone finds one of Kinzo's bones or whatever remains of him? |
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2013-07-18, 12:03 | Link #32512 |
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More interesting info from the manga.
Ep 8 confirms that in the future people knew about Battler being Kyrie's son as the police and the media investigated and the doctor tattled it out. Ange knew as well. Ange assumes Beatrice found out through Genji, implying that Rudolf might have told at least to Kinzo. Of course this can be an attempt to fix the logic of the fantasy background but while technically Yasu's knowledge wasn't required for EP4 as that one is written by Tohya and, being a person of the future, he knows the truth about Battler's birth, in EP1 there was also a hint about something Rudolf had to say something to Kyrie and Battler and EP 1 was written by Yasu so Yasu might have been aware of the truth. Also I've been wondering on what we were discussing time ago when Kyrie said she'd been released from her hell after 18 years. As EP 8 implies she was told the truth maybe that's just what it meant, that, despite what Rudolf said, she knew the truth and Rudolf lied or that he didn't have the chance to tell the truth to Battler only (in EP 8 he's not there to listen to the truth). Rudolf said that, according to him Asumu probably guessed the truth although she loved Battler like a mother. An important difference is that Rudolf said he switched the babies because he was afraid his father and Kyrie would press him into abandoning Asumu... and he didn't want to leave her... although since he felt guilty for stealing her baby to Kyrie, he decided also to always protect her. He also said if both babies had survived he planned to take care of both babies and mothers as he believed he had the money to do so. In short the manga is softer with Asumu. The novel says: That woman wasn't anywhere near as generous and accepting as she looked. ......There's a chance she figured it out. while the manga says: She looked composed and was unexpectedly sharp so perhalps she noticed. and shoes that Rudolf had feelings for Kyrie also And like this , officially, the child of my legal wife was born and the child of my mistress died. In exchange I made a vow to protect you as much as I could, since you had your child taken away as a result of this... a thing that's not in the visual novel: "I was better off financially back then. I was young, and I didn't give a damn about what lengths I went to. ......I threatened the hospital with money......and switched your kid with Asumu's." If Kyrie had a child, Rudolf would have two households to worry about. However, if Kyrie had a stillbirth and the child who survived was Asumu's, that would settle everything. ......The stillbirth might even have given him a chance to break off his relationship with Kyrie. In a way there's a hint in how Kanon and Shanon faked being dead. They said since the game requires to say 'found you' if one is found they thought to scare them not to say it so they technically wouldn't be discovered and could hid some other place. You can see it as a reference to how Umineko handled certain things. Also, the duel between the two, that's never solved in the visual novel was to see who Ange would have exposed first but they're exposed together so their duel is a draw and they said that had to be expected from them. Other hints like persuading to open a chained door by pretending to be someone trustworthy were already discussed but here Rosa confirmed she bought Sakutarou and didn't handmade him. Also Rosa realizes that telling Maria Sakutarou was dead, in fact a remake of what her siblings did to her. Interesting enough when she has the bunny talking she has him asking if he can become Sakutarou's friend as to imply Rosa doesn't consider Sakutarou dead anymore. As this was a requisite to revive the real Sakutarou maybe it's a hint that Rosa repaired it regretting what she did? |
2013-07-18, 13:24 | Link #32513 |
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I'm loving the EP8 manga
The vessel that allowed to us to exist in this world is only one I wonder what Rosatricers response to that line would be. Speaking of Rosa, I really like here scene with maria. Also in the last two chapters of EP5 manga during the discussion about love Battler talks about his first love and how they started dating someone else and you see a silhouette of George and Shannon in the background. It's interesting to see what Battler thought of his old relationship with Shannon. |
2013-07-18, 13:33 | Link #32514 | |
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2013-07-18, 14:31 | Link #32515 | |
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2013-07-18, 16:47 | Link #32516 |
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Well, Battler has an entire life outside of Rokkenjima, and like Jessica, is said to have been a fairly popular kid.
Anyways, not doubting that Shannon was his first love, but I still don't think it was a very casual commitment, at best. I am glad about the confirmation of future people' knowledge ... it's implied that the future is somehow aware of Battler's parentage back in EP4, when Gretel seems aware of how Beato's "Is that man even qualified to be my opponent?" argument. Also, regarding Kyrie's 18 years, I only just noticed - her 18 years ENDED in 1980, when Asumu died, which is what the text literally says.... so I have to assume she's counting six years of Rudolf's man-whoring prior to his engagement to Asumu, and that Ryukishi chose that number of years specifically to add some resonance to the other instances of '18' being an important number. Or ... just to make the "I'm defeating you with MATH!" bit easier. |
2013-07-18, 17:33 | Link #32517 |
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Right, but none of those people are characters. None of them are named or even referenced. The only actual character Battler is shown to have any connection to is Shannon, so the laws of narrative efficiency mean it could only possibly be Shannon he's even talking about. I'm just baffled that somebody would attempt to argue around what was made so incredibly apparent by Ryukishi. It's not like it was a mystery after ep4 or so. Hell, it was barely a mystery in ep1, you were just supposed to casually overlook it.
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2013-07-18, 18:05 | Link #32518 | |
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But with the manga now even that is not possible anymore.
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2013-07-19, 04:33 | Link #32519 | |
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2013-07-19, 07:31 | Link #32520 |
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On the one hand, the ep 8 manga is really touching (and the ep 5 where Battler remembered his promise to Yasu), and I think they are doing a great job of selling the emotional side of the story. Making me feel bad for Kyrie AND Rosa in such a short space of time is hard work.
On the other, it is always so creepy when you realise that all their talk of the golden land equates to Shannon and Kanon talking about AT LEAST killing themselves. Plus I have to reread the scenes where Shkannon are found dead, because not breathing is hard work... |
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